First and Second Flatirons
This is the last weekend until after Labor Day that parking is free in Chautauqua park so that's where we headed. Knowing it would be busy, we got to the parking area a little after 8am and found some parking spots still available. Had we gotten there 30 minutes later, parking would have been challenging, so I think we timed this one well. We met up with some friends at the trailhead and started our hike to the first and second flatirons.
Our main goal for this hike was to find lots of wildflowers. This area is nearing the peak for wildflowers, so we found quite a bit of them. Another couple of weeks and it will be perfect, but no free parking. The wildflowers were great on this hike. We saw a lot more wild Iris than we thought we would, as well as a lot of other varieties of wildflowers covering the many meadows in this area.
3.38 mi
2.7 hrs
7,047 ft
1,513 ft
Foothill Arnica
The fields in Chautauqua were not completely filled with flowers yet like we've seen in years past, but there were a few patches starting.
Golden Banner
Lots of Iris
There were a lot of wild Iris in Chautauqua. We don't see a lot of these in general while hiking so it was especially neat to see a lot of them.
Beautiful Petals
I love the texture in colors and patterns on wild iris.
Houndstongue
I don't think we've come across houndstounge before. It was neat to see some new wildflowers, even if they hadn't fully bloomed yet.
Wild Growing
This Penstemon was doing great growing in Chautauqua.
Wild Roses
We found a handful of wild rose bushes on the hike.
First Overlook
It was a hazy day so the view of Boulder wasn't that great.
Two Types of Couples...
There are 2 types of couples. The ones who sit nicely and smile (Emily and Dylan in the middle of the photo) and then there's us.
Spiderwort
We only found one Spiderwort flower, but it's unique so we knew right away it was something different from the rest of the hike.
